HCAC Supports ColoradoCare Amendment 69

Posted by Nathan Wilkes877.80pc on November 12, 2015

Following a unanimous vote of the Health Care for All Colorado (HCAC) Board of Directors this week, HCAC is officially supporting Colorado Amendment 69 – the ColoradoCare state health care financing system.

Health Care for All Colorado continues to work and strive for a publicly-funded universal health care system, and is excited about the prospect of a fundamental shift in how health care is financed in Colorado that would move us significantly in this positive direction. Many activists and supporters of HCAC worked long hours with the ColoradoCareYES campaign to deliver 109,131 valid signatures to the Secretary of State, officially securing a spot on the November 2016 election ballot. With less than a year to go, this will be a long and intense fight and we need your support.

Although HCAC was not responsible for Initiative 20 or the signature-gathering campaign, we provided early feedback on previous versions to address some deficiencies we identified. While Initiative 20/Amendment 69 may not fully represent the ideal solution we envision, if approved by the voters it would be the first shift in the nation towards egalitarian, universal coverage and away from the current broken multi-payer, private, for-profit health insurance system we are stuck with today.

ColoradoCareYES does not make any claims about it being a true single-payer system, but because of the nature of how it is structured, that’s how the mainstream media has chosen to label it. As a result, we are receiving significant attention from both the media and the public, and will continue to promote Amendment 69 and our vision for single payer in Colorado.

Major reasons why HCAC supports ColoradoCare (Amendment 69):

Reduces the uninsured rate in Colorado to ZERO (0)

Eliminates all underinsurance

Eliminates all prohibitive cost-sharing, including deductibles and large out-of-pocket expenses

Eliminates significant overhead for health care providers

Reduces total health care spending in CO by $5B or more per year

Allows patients full choice of primary care provider

Allows for lower negotiated rates for pharmaceuticals

Comprehensive benefits, including all necessary health care services

Separates health care financing from the state budget (and political gamesmanship)

Eliminates Medicaid and CHP+ as “welfare” programs, improving benefits and access to all citizens

Shared financing responsibility between employers and employees

Public control (through a representative board), transparency, oversight, and accountability

Please join our mailing list to receive campaign updates and also consider supporting HCAC financially as we prepare to fight the good fight leading up to November 2016. There have been multiple Koch-brothers-funded organizations already publicly opposing Initiative 20 and Amendment 69. We will not win without a significant grassroots outreach, a broad organizational coalition, positive media coverage, and a platform that can withstand the lies and fear tactics of the opposition.Thank you all for your questions so far, and please continue to submit any more that you have. Please stay tuned. We are in the process of developing an FAQ based on our interpretation of Amendment 69 and questions about it that we receive. If there is anything we cannot answer, we will make sure to get that answer for you from the ColoradoCareYES campaign.

Health Care for All Colorado is also an affiliate of HealthCare-NOW!, the national single-payer advocacy organization. The HealthCare-NOW! board has also voted unanimously to support ColoradoCare Amendment 69.

United States I think I have never had a good rating for health care. Everyone has much lower cost due to simplified payment systems. Voting yes at 69 is the right thing to do Information is never too much.#ColoradoCareYEShttps://www.dicaseinformacao.com

John Deere followed this page
2017-02-18 06:37:14 -0700

jim davis commented
2016-09-08 14:32:33 -0600

The US has never been ranked well in any publication in the world for health care. Everybody else has much lower cost due to simplified payment systems. More simplicity leads to better tracking and higher quality. Voting yes on 69 is the right thing to do: http://www.amendment69colorado.org

Thelma G. Wheeler commented
2016-07-17 11:49:22 -0600

We all have to keep working to get the word out, with all the details, or we have no hope of it passing…and you can bet the big insurance companies and HMOs are ready to spend millions to keep it from passing. Let’s keep up the good fight! #ColoradoCareYES
(http://fatordiabetes.com)

Charles McGuire commented
2016-06-23 13:30:26 -0600

vote no on amendment 69 and sign petitions to make it illegal to tax peoples disability checks and tax your state and federal income tax.and make it illegal to remove your medicaid and medicare.

Roger Gonnering commented
2016-05-03 08:54:13 -0600

Prior to the ACA, Healthcare Insurance companies skimmed about $1 of every $3 paid for Healthcare. In Healthcare Insurance jargon, the amount actually paid for Healthcare is called the ‘Medical Loss Ratio’ (MLR). The With the ACA, Healthcare Insurance companies can still skim about $1 of every $5 paid for Healthcare. The MLR is capped at 80%. Medicare has a MLR of about 97%, I would guess that HCAC would have a similar MLR, saving Colorado residents billions of dollars. Colorado could then also negotiate with the blood-sucking Pharmaceutical Industry to save billions of dollars more. This is a no brainer.

Anonymous commented
2016-04-11 10:22:25 -0600

YES to Amendment 69. After studying the prospect of becoming an independent contractor, everything is all fine and well till I look at healthcare options for a family of with two small children, I am sure there are millions in Colorado and the US in the same situation. If at the national level we cannot have such policies because a handful of politicians and the lobbies they represent won’t let it happen, I am all for Colorado trying to do something about it on it’s own. We could potently set up a template for how this gets done at the national level.

Betty Spoonleg commented
2016-04-11 09:53:37 -0600

As a self-employed 50 something couple, we paid approx. $1700 in 2015 TOTAL under “ObamaCare” and my husband had to have a emergency quintuple CABG (CoronaryArteryBypassGraft). Reading the pdf’s of this proposed plan, we would pay 12.5% income tax on our MAGI—- NOT what we get taxed on currently-which is fed taxable income ie: MAGI minus personal exemptions and standard deduction. Either HCAC has misprinted this or they are trying to pull a sneaky. This would, at minimum, double OUR health care costs… even if we never got the a doctor! ObamaCare saved my husband’s life – why would we switch in the middle of the stream.

Betty Spoonleg followed this page
2016-04-11 09:50:44 -0600

Charles McGuire commented
2016-03-01 02:30:17 -0700

All coloradoans should vote no against amendment 69.it is a sham of an amendment to get people to allow 21 people to become rich at the expense of the disabled and less fortunate.Would you allow 21 people to decide your health care system.its like turning a drunk loose with the keys to your brand new Mercedes.I know how most of the committees work around Colorado the number one priority is to vote to get paid and since these committee members have your hard earned tax money it will be high dollar.they stand to make millions at your expense.

Victor Sieff commented
2015-11-18 19:01:30 -0700

As a self employed person my income is very sporadic.The system we have now is not working.You pay high fees and high deductibles. I support a health care system that doesn’t bankrupt individuals and a system that’s affordable.I think most Americans want this.i blame the Republicans that are promised funding for their campaigns and the Health care lobby for this underperforming health care system we currently have.The only politician that is taking this on is Bernie Sanders.Middle class people like myself are being squeezed by big corporations,that think about p rofit first before the treatment of patients.Plus our medical system doesn’t perform well for patients.If you can’t afford the top plans,your treatement is inadequate.Every other civilized country offers their citizens free healthcare and it should be offered here in the US.I totally support this initiative.